Congratulations are in order for Salem Main Streets and the organizers of last weekend's inaugural Salem Arts Festival, in which several local bands and musicians donated their time to play shows around the city. There was music at Old Town Hall, Pickering Wharf and Salem Common, and all seemed to go off without a hitch.
This weekend — on Artist's Row, Derby Square and in St. Peter's Episcopal Church Hall — Salem's arts community will keep the live performances going, with Cuban jazz, rock 'n' roll, a DJ, African drumming and a benefit for Salem's YMCA. And on Sunday, belly dancers will perform on Artist's Row as part of its opening festivities.
Salem's best-known DJ, Radio ScotVoid, will play with special guests from North Shore bands on Saturday at noon, to complement the artists' receptions for "Does Size Really Matter?" On Sunday at 1 p.m., dancers will put on "The Art of Belly Dance." Both performances will take place on Artist's Row Plaza.
The Salem Jazz and Soul Festival's second Berklee Summer Series concert of 2009 will take place on Derby Square, in the shadow of Old Town Hall, on Saturday from 5 to 7 p.m. This show will feature Carlos Averhoff Jr., a saxophonist, composer and arranger. Averhoff is a native of Cuba who is on scholarship at the Berklee College of Music.
A3D — African Development Through Drum and Dance — will have a dance party at St. Peter's Episcopal Church on Saturday at 7 p.m. The event will feature drumming and world music; it's a fundraiser for A3D, a nonprofit that supplies support and equipment to hospitals and schools in West Africa. Tickets are $8 in advance, $10 at the door and free for children under 12. For more information, go to www.a3dinc.org.
Not to be outdone, The Lobster Shanty, on Artist's Row, will also have live music, as always. Three Toad Sloth will play Saturday at 8 p.m. "Sloth" is a local rock band that's been together for nearly 20 years.
On Sunday, the Shanty will host a fundraiser for the Salem YMCA's "Y for All" program, which provides memberships to those who cannot afford to join. Three Toad Sloth and the Jacknife Valentines will headline this benefit, which starts at 4 p.m. (the music begins at 6 p.m.)
There will be raffles, donations will be accepted, and the bartender and waitstaff will donate a portion of their tips to the cause.
Just another weekend in downtown Salem; no wonder we love living here.
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Staff writer Larry Claflin Jr. writes his "Music Notes" column regularly. Contact him at lclaflin@salemnews.com.
